Apathist With Your Coffee
by HetChrome
Summary: "Would you like an Apathist with your Sadist, sir? It's bittersweet." HibariOC HibariXOC 18OC
1. Introducing the Apathist

**Authoress: I'm ignoring my other stories again, aren't I?****Ehe. Oops. This character was originally Mitarai Jun Version 2, but I didn't want their names to be the same, as in 'Accidently a Womanizer' so….This name was procured after some considering. The character was the same as the one I made before though. I love androgynous names, so. Yeah. And the kanji for 'Igarashi' was **五十嵐**Dunno if you can read that. But the first two kanjis are for 5 and 10 so I thought that was neat when I came across it. Her KHR number is 50! Hoho. Ignore me. Reviews are appreciated!**

**Side Note: Any ideas relating to other stories are complete and total coincidence. I swear.**

**Disclaimer: I keep forgetting to put these. If I owned KHR and its characters, everyone would love Hibari.**

If Igarashi Hiro had a fault, it would be that she was fickle.

Igarashi Hiro never took an interest in any one activity for more than a few months, and when those months were up, she'd abandon it as abruptly as she would start it. Hiro had already gone through the baseball club and the literature club by the time the first quarter of school rolled over. She was currently enrolled as a second year student in class 2-C, at Namimori Middle School.

She pulled on her red and white school uniform, tugging at the skirt sleepily to straighten it. Then, she proceeded to tear apart the room in search for that ridiculous bow tie that looked rather idiotic on the uniform. Hiro finally found it under her dog on the bed, and rolled him over, causing him to squash the small kitten on the other side of it. The girl extracted the smaller animal from the pile on her bed, and dumped it on top, while tying her ribbon with the expertise of daily routine.

_I'm late. _She thought blandly, not very caring about her attendance record. Well, she didn't care about much, but that was beside the point. She tripped down the stairs in record time, pulling on her knee socks and running fingers through her bed head as she went. Her bag and a white bun were snatched up from among various furry creatures, and she ran out the door while mumbling a muffled 'I'm going' to her cheerful father in the kitchen through a mouthful of bread.

Hiro sped through the streets, pleated skirt and hip-length, slate hair flying wildly behind her as she sprinted. The pedestrian light blinked red just as she reached it, and she said some choice words that no self-respecting lady should say. Shifting nervously from foot to foot, she kept her face impassive as the numbers went into countdown. As the number switched to a 2, she was already sprinting through the crosswalk. Some retarded driver who had the _nerve _to try to rush the yellow light zoomed across, right at her.

Tsuna wanted to scream. As usual, his morning was horrible, as the rest of his day would most likely be. Tsuna had slept late the previous night, due to insane teaching by Reborn so Tsuna could finish his homework. His usual alarm clock was a bucket of freezing water containing more than a few lumps of ice at 5:30 in the freaking _morning_. Tsuna had shot up and went to the bathroom; only to find Bianchi already inside, taking a shower that would last god knows how long. He could only wait for her to finish, and complete his daily routine in a record-breaking 5 minutes, which encompassed a shower, teeth brushing, and face washing, etc. Breakfast, as usual, was stolen by Reborn, so Tsuna took a piece of toast instead. On top of all those unfortunate events, he was late. Thanks, Bianchi.

Tsuna jogged toward the direction of the school with Reborn on his shoulder, and stopped at a red light. In his peripheral vision, he could see a girl who looked a little older than him, sprinting much faster than he was. She seemed to be in a hurry as well – Tsuna supposed she was late too. To his amazement and slight horror, she leapt forward before the light became green. Tsuna wanted to cry out in alarm when a car from his side of the street was still driving forward, heading straight toward the girl.

Instead of sporting a look like deer-in-headlights, the Namimori school girl bent forward, and jumped. Tsuna's mouth opened with amazement as her hand brushed the roof of the vehicle, and pushed her off the metallic surface. Her un-perfect landing on the other side sent her skidding on the concrete.

Ignoring her scrapes, Hiro continued her sprint as if nothing had happened. A car hadn't nearly killed her, nor was she about to acknowledge the superficial wound. As it was, Hiro made it to school exactly on time, sitting in her seat just as the teacher walked in. Tsuna, on the other hand, didn't. He got a late slip, and was sent to the Disciplinary Committee, where, luckily for him, the president was out on rounds patrol.

Reborn smirked.

"Igarashi Hiro, age 15, class 2-C, member of a number of athletic clubs." The laptop screen reflected on his black orbs as he viewed her profile picture.

"A-ano… Igarashi-san?" A timid girl in a matching uniform asked, tugging nervously on her chocolate curls. Hiro nearly smiled. _Cute. _Hiro would never admit her weakness for cute things.

"Hiro is fine. Yes?" She softened her tone, as to not frighten her peer.

"I was wondering… Would you be interesting in participating in the golf tournament next week? I-I mean, we need more people, and a lot of people said that you were good at sports, so um…" She said this all very fast, a slightly panicky look on her face. "Er, I know that if you don't have time, that's completely understandable, and if you don't want to, it's all your choice, and everything, but…" She was starting to babble, pigtails shaking from agitation.

At this, Hiro really did smile, and actually snickered a little. The girl blinked in confusion, and seemed to relax. No one ever told her that Igarashi Hiro could laugh.

"Relax. Sure, I'll come. Where and what time?" The chocolate-haired girl broke out into a smile, and said excitedly, "Thank you!"

~6918~

"Excuse me. C-could you please move aside?" Tsuna jumped as a girl, taller than he, tapped him on the shoulder. He was standing in the middle of the doorway, causing a minute roadblock.

"Yeah, Dame-Tsuna. She's going to be doing something very important, so could you please just go away?" Her friends piped up.

"A-ah. Sorry, I'll be moving now…" He scooted around them nervously.

"Do you think he'll accept it?"

_Accept what? _Tsuna wondered, blinking at the girls.

"You guys are so embarrassing," complained the tall girl. "Just because I'm going to do it, doesn't mean that he'll just accept me that way."

_Must be a crush confession…_ Tsuna sighed. How lucky. He wished he had to guts to do the same to Kyoko-chan.

"But why would you like Sasagawa anyway?" Another girl complained. "He's so weird."

Tsuna nearly jumped out of his skin at "Sasagawa." Sweat poured profusely down his face at the apparent mind-reading. Then, he realized that this must be Sasagawa Ryohei of the boxing club, the very, very _extreme_ boy who was a year older than he.

Being the sneaky ninja he was, Reborn seemed to step right out of the fourth dimension and onto Tsuna's shoulder.

"Follow them. We have to make sure our family member doesn't get hurt. And if you don't, I'll blow your brains out." He stated, reading Tsuna's mind.

_How'd he know I was thinking about the impossibility of getting hurt from a confession?_

"I just can. Stupid Tsuna."

_Hiiiiee! Stop reading my mind!_

"I can do whatever I want to do. Hurry up."

Tsuna grumbled slightly, but followed the group with his meager ninja skills. Luck was on his side for the first time that day, since the group seemed to have no observational power whatsoever.

"Haha, we'll watch from over here." A girl joked.

"Don't watch!" The first girl complained. "Just go to lunch!"

The gaggle split, and the larger group walked away, laughing. The single girl left huffed, and headed toward the back of the gym and next to the tennis courts, where the boxing club was located. Since Sasagawa Ryohei spent most of his life on boxing, he always took every chance to be in the boxing room.

She knocked loudly on the door, and opened it, with a Tsuna tag-along scurrying around behind her.

~1827~

Hiro stretched after her tennis warm-ups, having migrated to the tennis club and team for the time being. Swinging a towel around her neck, she used it to wipe her face and took a long draught of water from her bottle. She placed her racket and the balls into her sports bag, and took a seat on the warmed metal of the tennis bleachers.

She spotted a girl heading toward her direction, along with a rather obvious stalker, who she recognized as Sawada Tsunayoshi, nicknamed Dame-Tsuna from his classmates. He had recently gained two close friends, Gokudera Hayato and Yamamoto Takeshi, both very popular with the male and female population.

The girl, who she'd recognized from the 2-A class, walked right into Sasagawa's boxing club. Hiro frowned. She wasn't a member of that club. She strode out of the confining fence, and paced silently to where Tsunayoshi was peeking into the clubroom. There was a baby in a fedora on his shoulder.

_Sawada is so strange…_ Hiro reached over and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. He started, stumbling backward into the girl.

_Hm… He is rather useless. Who stumbles backward when they're surprised from the back?_ Hiro raised an eyebrow, and caught him around the elbow.

"What are you doing?"

Tsuna scrambled away hurriedly, looking disheveled and more than a little alarmed.

"U-um, I wasn't doing anything suspicious or a-anything like that, I-I mean –"

He turned to look at his apprehender, and blinked.

"Igarashi…Hiro-san…right?"

She never knew his eyes were so large.


	2. In Which My Family Expands

**Authoress: Eh… My character irks me already. Isn't she mary-sue? Cheh.**

She stared at Tsuna, the supposedly most useless person in the school.

_Cute…_ She thought, watching him unblinkingly.

"Eh?" Tsuna tilted his head to the side, and gave an awkward smile. "Um… Igarashi-san?"

"Igarashi Hiro," the baby began, "Would you like to join our family?" Hiro switched her attention to the suited infant as Tsuna began to panic all over again. _Why on earth is he asking so directly!?_

"Fa…mily?"

"That's right. This useless Sawada Tsunayoshi is actually the boss of a mafia family, called the Vongola. I want you to become his Guardian."

"Reborn!" Tsuna screamed, shaking his head frantically and clapping a hand over Reborn's face. "Don't just say it like that! H-he doesn't know what he's saying, he's just a baby, you see…"

The toddler smacked his hand away and stated, "If you do that again, you will be missing a hand."

"Hiiiieee!" Tsuna wailed.

"Sure."

"See, I told you, Reborn, don't just ask people like that – What?"

"I said 'Sure'."

"…WHY?!"

She placed a hand on his head. "Because the Vongola boss is very cute."

"Oh, I see – Wait, what?!"

"Shh." She grabbed the front of Tsuna's vest, and pulled him around the corner. Just then, the girl that Tsuna had been stalking walked out. He'd forgotten about her.

"S-sasagawa-san, I was wondering if I could talk with you outside?" She asked the figure behind her timidly.

"Huh? Oh! That would be extremely acceptable!" A rough voice answered.

Tsuna felt the hand on his vest clench, tightening.

"What did you extremely need?!" Yelled the white-haired boy that had stepped out with the girl.

"Um. I don't want to waste your time, so I just wanted to say…I mean…" She trailed off, and then mumbled something inaudible.

"What?! Speak up, I extremely cannot hear you!"

"I… like you."

Tsuna nearly choked as the grip on his vest increased. It ceased abruptly, and a soft apology was muttered by the older girl.

"I … extremely don't get what you're talking about. Who are you?" The boxer scratched his head in confusion.

"I…n-nevermind… Sorry for taking up your time." She ran away, fists clenched resolutely at her sides. Ryohei, not knowing what to do, just shrugged and walked back inside.

Tsuna glanced backward, and was surprised to see the dark look on Igarashi Hiro's face.

"Igarashi-san? Are you okay?"

"Hiro."

"What?"

"Hiro is fine." Her face lapsed back into her bland expression, and patted his head gently.

"Did I hurt you?"

"N-No." Tsuna was surprised at how gentle the "Frosty Igarashi" could be.

She smiled slightly. "That's good."

"Iga- Hiro-san… Do you like Sasagawa-san?" She started, and to his amazement, blushed.

"You're going to be late for class," she replied. Immediately forgetting his question, he yelped and zipped off to class.

Hiro chuckled. Her new boss was so gullible.

~TYL!1818~

"I'm quitting the tennis club." She stated, glancing at the tennis captain.

"What? Already? I mean, I guess I kind of expected it, but you just joined a week ago!"

"I found something more interesting to do," she replied bluntly, not particularly concerned about his feelings. She left him slumped in his emo corner, gloomily tracing circles in the dust.

~D18~

Hiro made it part of her routine to say hello to Tsuna every morning since that day.

"Boss…" She poked her head into the first year class. "Morning." Her face was arranged into a picture of perfect apathy.

"I told you to stop bothering the Tenth!" snarled Gokudera, the irate Italian whipping out a brand new set of dynamite. He was privately dying to try them out.

"Haha, calm down, Gokudera. She's just saying hi." Yamamoto grinned cheerily, apparently unaffected by the shorter boy's anger.

"That's right, Hayato. There's nothing wrong with saying hello," Hiro agreed, amusement glinting in her eyes.

"It's Gokudera! Stop calling me Hayato!" snapped the boy. Hiro pretended that she became temporarily deaf, and walked out again to her own classroom.

This happened for weeks, and then months. Hiro would help Tsuna and Yamamoto with their homework when Gokudera was unavailable, and stood up for the younger boy when his upperclassmen were bullying him again.

The first really big thing happened was when they met Hibari Kyouya, Head Prefect of the Disciplinary Committee.


	3. The Sadist's Debut

**Authoress: Imagine my surprise when I don't check my email for one day, and get about 20 emails from . …There was a grand total of 10 favorite stories, 6 story alerts, 2 author alerts, and….. one review. Yes, people, the grand winner is **british buffalo. **Thank you, meh dear. Now. Since I'm done lecturing you silly people. I shall now broadcast my best pair of puppy eyes and then fail miserably at doing it in an attempt to make you people review. On with the story! I'm on a roll.**

**Disclaimer: Hey, give me a break, I remembered this time. I adore Amano Akira, I am not a narcissist (usually), and therefore you may draw the conclusion that I am not Amano Akira.**

It all happened on a fresh, spring day. The birds were screeching, the sun was glaring; the wind was slamming viciously into carefully styled hair, causing girls to shriek and dash toward the safety of the classrooms. Hiro just walked through it all, seemingly unperturbed by the wind slapping all her hair into her face. Having had opened her mouth to yawn, a mouthful of hair greeted her tongue. She spat the tresses out with a look of mild disgust.

Once she swept her long hair out of her face and managed to swear in her continuous monotone, she remembered to tie her hair up. After she came up with this brilliant idea, she swore again when she didn't have a hair tie. The wind slammed her hair into her face again.

Looking back on the situation, she would blame the wind for it.

Ten years later, anyway.

Nearly to the gates, she was having her feudal war with her hair when she felt something under her foot, and something hard crashing with her head. Then she felt the unmistakable discomfort of the cold concrete.

Showing no expression whatsoever of surprise, she looked up at her attacker.

She had crashed directly into the head prefect of the Disciplinary Committee of Namimori Middle. Oh hey, didn't see you there, please don't kill me. The first thing that comes through the brain neurons of the majority of the student body. She… wasn't in the majority. Which is disappointing, because she could have saved herself a lot of trouble if she was.

_Ouch. _Was the first thought._ Oops._ Was the second.

"Sorry," she said automatically, and stood back up. She just walked around the boy without a second word, leaving a very disgruntled Hibari Kyouya sitting on the ground, with an adorable sulky expression on his face. Needless to say, the student population decided to avoid him with a rather dogged determination.

Meanwhile, Hiro dropped by Tsuna's classroom to say hi. As usual, when she rested a hand on Tsuna's fluffy locks, Gokudera would shoot upward with indignation and start spouting profanity. Hiro would trip him with a cool expression, while Yamamoto just chuckled and attempting to pacify his fuming friend.

Hiro sat through several classes in complete and total boredom, until physical education, where she would actually have to do something. It wasn't until a while before when she noticed that Tsuna was in the same PE period as she. In an obvious contrast to the Vongola boss, she was usually chosen earlier for teams, and Tsuna was always last to be chosen.

It was only until after Reborn suggested that she join the Vongola when Tsuna was starting to mysteriously do better in the class. When a volley ball was heading toward him, it would be bumped back – but Tsuna seemed to have nothing to do with it. The teacher had no choice whatsoever but to give Tsuna higher marks. It was only until today did their classes understand his mysterious performance.

"Boss," her warm breath puffed lightly over his shoulder. He jumped, and whirled around.

"Oh, Hiro-san. I'm still not used to you popping up like that," he laughed.

"You're doing it wrong again – place your palms like this, and fold your thumbs over each other… No, stick your elbows forward. Right…" She said gently, handling the boy's forearms as if they were made of spun sugar. He reached forward, and bumped it, causing the ball to kind of jump to the side, where a more athletically capable person setted it, and another spiked.

"I did it!" He said excitedly, eyes glowing with pleasure. He smiled cutely at the usually impassive girl.

"Thank you, Hiro-san!"

She flushed slightly; the concentration of adoration in his smile was a little intoxicating.

"Good for you," she patted his hair again, and wandered toward her own court, where her team was failing rather miserably, wobbling slightly.

"Igarashi-san? Where were you? Ah, never mind, help us?"

She nodded absently, and, almost lazily, whacked the ball with one hand. It went over, but swerved to the side and nearly smacked another player on the next court. Not only was it out-of-bounds, her hit was against regulations. She kept her face bland, not particularly caring about the outcome of this game. With four points versus thirteen, she didn't see the point in trying. Plus, it wasn't like they could accuse her of being lousy at sports – she did win the golf tournament for their team. It was just history and art which she couldn't pass. She never really liked those lousy museums anyway.

Ah, lunch. Free time. The period of day where teachers can't find any fault with your picture of a tree. Which was supposed to be a cat, by the way.

She was headed toward the roof, where she assumed Tsuna and the others were. Before she reached the door, however, it slammed open, and a frantic Gokudera crashed directly into the girl.

"Movemovemovemove! The 10th is going to die!" He screamed. She straightened from her half-crouched position on the stairs, and calmly reached over. She calmly slapped him across the face, and calmly shoved him away from her precious Tsuna.

"What happened?" She asked Yamamoto, the one she liked more of the pair.

"I dunno, but I think Tsuna fainted… And the kid told us to bring him to the Reception Room."

"Don't speak as if you were so close to the Tenth!" Gokudera screamed from a corner, muffled by the wall in his face. Hiro ignored him.

The trio brought Tsuna's unconscious form to the rather nicely furnished Reception Room. Olive green couches and a handsome wooden desk sat in the center of the room, with dark shelves of polished cherry wood lining the walls. An assorted variety of books were stacked neatly in each shelf. The window of this room invited a large amount of light through, giving an excellent view of the front of the school.

They placed Tsuna on one of the comfortable, green couches.

"Coffee?" Reborn offered, pouring cups of steaming liquid from a random coffee maker. As they accepted, the door slid open.

"Hey! You guys aren't allowed in here!" A large amount of people with a regent hairstyle filed in, all dressed in black with a red armband glaring from their upper arms. Oh, by the way, they all looked exactly the same.

"If you don't go, we'll need to forcibly remove you." Warned their leader.

Naturally, Gokudera had to let loose a stream of profanity, and he smacked a couple around, inducing immediate unconsciousness.

"Why you – " He never got to finish his sentence before Yamamoto just chuckled and smacked him in the gut.

"Need help, Gokudera?"

"Of course not, dammit! I can take them all myself!" Gokudera shot back.

"You? Not likely," Hiro snorted, pulling a move she normally reserved for Gokudera and tripping the Disciplinary Committee member that was attempting to land a rather feeble punch on her frame.

"Shut up!" Gokudera snapped, digging a heel into another stomach.

Before long, the immaculate floors of the Reception Room was covered in the bodies of their defeated opponents.

"I didn't need your help," grumbled Gokudera, taking a sip from his coffee.

Hiro nodded patronizingly. "Of course."

"Shut up!"

"It seems that they are utterly weak and useless. I'll have to take care of you herbivores myself." A cool voice drawled. A student was standing in the doorway, a red armband over his short-sleeved dress shirt, and slim, black pants emphasizing long, slender legs. Thankfully, he was without the ridiculous regent style. Short, black hair was swept carelessly into his steely gray eyes, a slight frown over a delicately angled face. A single metallic tonfa was clenched in his hand.

With a smooth, fluid motion, he brought it up, and Gokudera's coffee cup was severed from its handle. Again, swearing, Gokudera leapt into a defensive position, and dynamite materialized into his hands.

Sadly enough, Gokudera was beaten in about two seconds. The boy's next target was Yamamoto, who lasted considerably longer, but was incapacitated soon after.

His eyes roved the room, and settled on Hiro, who was leaning against his olive couch, watching the proceeds with a mild air of interest. His frown deepened.

"You crashed into me this morning."

"…Did I?"

"…" He was silent. Then, "Who are you?"

"Igarashi Hiro. And you?" She wasn't looking at him, once more examining the furniture. Obviously, her question was only out of politeness – she wasn't interested in who he was in the least.

"Hibari Kyouya. Prefect of the Disciplinary Committee."

"Nice to meet you."

"I'm going to bite you to death," was his hissing reply.

"Oh dear," she replied in monotone.

He charged, footsteps light against the soft carpet. Her arms uncrossed, and she shrank down, his tonfa zipping over her head, ruffling her hair.

Hiro took a step to the side to avoid his next swipe, and attempted to elbow him in the side. Her attempt was foiled as he blocked it with another tonfa up his sleeve. There was an audible crack, but Hiro didn't flinch, instead hooking her ankle around his to trip him. His balanced stance held fast – he was no beginner.

She tried a different approach. Still holding her ankle around his, she used it as a pivot to raise her other leg off the ground, effectively smashing into his toned chest. Hibari stumbled back a step. Two steps. Three. And took Hiro with him, her foot still twined with his. Before she landed on top of him, she planted a hand on his chest and rolled off, leaping up again and taking a grip onto the couch.

"Mmnnh…" went the couch.

Hiro blinked at it. Tsuna's head popped up over the cushion, and looked around.

"Gokudera? Yamamoto!" He turned. "Hiro-san?"

"Hiiiieee!! Hibari-san!?" He turned as white as a sheet, glancing fearfully at the venomous prefect.

"Hiro-san – " He began, eyes widening. She felt a cold surface dig into her ribs, and the next thing she knew, she hit the wall. Her vision began to swim, her surroundings looking hazy.

_It hurts…_ She thought, and blacked out.

~8059~

She woke to a very loud, very annoying voice.

"Hiro-chwaaan~" A voice sang as she irritably cracked open her eyes.

She felt like shutting them again when the sunlight and Doctor Shamal attacked her vision.

"Don't flirt with Hiro-san!" Protested Tsuna, his adorable cheeks flushed slightly at Shamal's boldness.

"He's not flirting," Hiro grumbled. "He's outright molesting." She pushed herself up, and glanced at the occupants of the room, glossing over Yamamoto and Gokudera. It's not like they were important or anything.

"How long was I out?" she asked Tsuna, rubbing her eyes.

"Just an hour or two. Hibari-san hit you pretty hard, Doctor Shamal says that you broke a rib." Tsuna explained. "Are you feeling alright?"

Hiro smiled gently at the timid boy. "I'm fine." Her expression became stone cold like normal when she glared at Shamal. He cowered in his corner behind his medical desk.

She climbed out of bed and pulled on her outer clothing, noting absently that there were bandages clumsily wrapped around her torso. Hopefully, it was Tsuna that did that. As much as she hated to admit it, Shamal was a capable doctor, and could bandage much better than the job on her ribs.

"Come on. I'll walk you guys home."

_How embarrassing, a girl walking me home…_ Tsuna thought, hanging his head in shame. He snapped back up, and blinked at Hiro.

"I don't think you should do any walking, Hiro-san –"

"Like I said, I'm fine. Your mom is going to worry," was the matter-of-fact reply.

"Don't look down on the Tenth's concern!" Gokudera snarled, whipping out another set of dynamite. She threw her shoe into his face. Calmly.

Yamamoto laughed, and helped the disgruntled Gokudera back to his feet.

**Abrupt way to end it… But. Eh.**


	4. The Sadist Speaks

**I'm sorrryyyy… For not updating… I'll be posting another 1827 fic that was for NaNoWriMo later as an apology? Hehe. It's STILL in progress – long thing, it is.**

**Hehe.**

**=shot=**

**So here it is – and please, review this time, yeah? XD**

It was a few days later when she saw Hibari Kyouya again.

Another normal day, when the air was crisp and cool in the morning. The beginnings of spring poked their way through the soil after a frosty winter as Namimori Middle students began to exchange their winter uniforms for something lighter.

There was a light breeze that day, which really didn't explain a few skirts wildly flying up at unexpected intervals.

Hiro believed that Mochida had something to do with it. She was always overruled though – popular, amazing Mochida-senpai would _never _do anything so _vulgar._

Huh. Gullible much?

But we digress.

Hiro continued her sedate pace to the iron-wrought gates of Namimori Middle School, where there were usually a squad of Disciplinary Committee members standing guard.

_Those armbands look awfully familiar… Eh. Must be nothing…_

"Igarashi Hiro."

She paused at the gate at hearing her name. Her blank eyes turned to the side, and saw the feared Disciplinary Head Prefect. And of course, being her, she stayed silent.

Then:

"Who are you?"

Hibari could feel a twitch developing in that spot under his left eye.

"The first beating must have had minimal effect. This time, I will definitely bite you to death. Maybe then you'll remember."

At this point, the Disciplinary Committee members and their regent hair were in awe.

It was either in awe of their beloved leader's pure awesomeness or Hiro's blatant forgetfulness and possible stupidity. One does not forget Hibari Kyouya.

Ever.

Those infamous, gleaming, silver tonfa were grasped out of some alternate dimension – Hiro would have to learn that fourth dimension trick some time. Maybe Reborn would teach her.

But that is fodder for later.

Hibari's toned arm lashed forward at the smaller girl, who ducked and moved to the side in a single, swift motion. A hand grasped the end of his weapon in a vain attempt to halt his attacks.

Please take care to notice that I said, "In vain."

Who is anyone kidding – you can't stop Hibari's tonfa with one hand if you're still in middle school. It's hardly physically possible.

Her hand was flung off, and she skidded backward on the spotless cement campus.

Taking advantage of her distance from the prefect, she retrieved a cell phone from the depths of her boring looking school bag and flipped it open (No, she does not have an awesome sliding phone. Yet, at any rate) to check the time.

_I'm going to be late. And I did the trouble of waking up earlier this morning…_

Hiro sighed lightly, and snapped the phone shut. It disappeared back into the bag.

She looked up to stare at Hibari, who was frowning disapprovingly at her actions.

"I'm going to be late. Don't worry; the phone will be off during class." With this farewell (hardly), she straightened her skirt, gripped her bag in a more comfortable fashion, and rushed off in a track team member's sprint. The captain would have been proud, if she hadn't quit after two weeks of joining.

-

Kusakabe Tetsuya watched the young girl disappear with a slight gaze of admiration. She wasn't as adept as Hibari in fighting, perhaps, but she was one hell of a runner.

Hibari scoffed, lowering his tonfa and causing them to disappear somewhere deep inside his oversized coat.

Kusakabe smiled slightly. Hey, on the bright side, Hibari didn't go and track her down – probably wasn't worth his time – also because he didn't want to tarnish the school attendance record.

Anyway, less blood to clean up, which meant less work for the poor DC members.

-

Hiro just made it, zipping through the sliding door just before the teacher walked in, which earned her a slight frown. Otherwise, her lateness was ignored. There was no point in lecturing her anyway: it wasn't as if she ever cared. Plus, her father would most likely just laugh and wave it off. It didn't seem that her father was very concerned about this "education" thing.

And so the day commenced. On with the torture!

Hiro had ploughed her way through English, Science, Japanese, and History before getting to lunch.

Art and PE to go. Joy.

But on the bright side (always look on the bright side) she could now go and see her beloved Tsuna. She reached into her bag and fished out her bento, trooping out to the roof where they ate occasionally.

She pushed open the door and stepped onto the cemented platform – which was devoid of her fishy target.

Never mind then… She was about to turn and go, but was interrupted by a voice.

"Who's there?" Deep and familiar.

What was this guy's name again? Forgot.

Hibari could hear the footsteps come closer, tapping lightly on the cool floor. He was awake and alert, eyes open to glare at the figure that would soon appear in his line of vision.

"It's you again…" the feminine voice stated blandly, and he could see the indoor classroom shoes shifting into view. Above that was a pleated skirt – red. And then a dress shirt, properly tucked and tied.

A bored face topped the whole confectionary, sporting long tresses of monotonous slate and dark orbs devoid of opinion.

As it was, Hibari probably would have bitten her to death right now if the sun wasn't so comfortable and he didn't feel like moving.

In simpler terms: He was being lazy.

Hiro glanced down at the smooth surface under her feet and , making a split-second decision, lowered herself onto the pavement.

Hibari's frown deepened.

"If you stay, I'll bite you to death. Go away."

Hiro stared at him contemplatively, and replied, "I'm not breaking any school rules."

She got you there, buddy.

Hibari let himself get frustrated on the inside while having a neutral expression on the out. He turned on his side, back facing the girl who was now cracking open her lunchbox.

Don't get him wrong. He wasn't letting his guard down, oh no. On the contrary, his senses were more heightened than ever. If she so much as breathed differently, Hibari would react.

But in the whole time they were up there, the most aggressive thing that she did was snap the disposable chopsticks that she brought today, too lazy to pack the reusable kind. After that, she proceeded to slurp the noodles inside (quite silently, I might add) and pack away her box. She threw away the remnants of any trash and just left.

You're probably going: "…What?"

Yeah, she just left. That's all.

But of course, we all know that in the future, Igarashi Hiro would continue eating with Hibari Kyouya on the rooftop whenever Gokudera Hayato and Yamamoto Takeshi were being particularly annoying.

And then, Hibari Kyouya would just take it in stride, because Hibari Kyouya is just cool like that.

Igarashi Hiro could see the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.

Well, not really.

But we're getting there.


	5. In Which the Apathist Swears

**Bwaha. I is on a roooollll. Sorry for the messy season timing – This chapter is winter, last chapter was beginning of spring. =facepalm= We're gonna be skipping around…**

**Also. Yes, Japanese people do not eat noodles in bento boxes. Only Chinese people like me do that. Glad we got that straight, 'cause I'm too lazy to change it, as I have no internet when I'm writing this.**

**Okay. Chapter 5, hit it!**

Hiro awoke suddenly to the silence of her room. Gentle sunlight streamed from behind cotton curtains, which fluttered in the slight breeze.

She must have forgotten to close the window again…

She started, eyes shooting wide with sudden alarm: Was she late for school again?

Her next thought was: _Mneh, it doesn't really matter…_

The next: _Today is Sunday._

No school. Sigh.

She drowsily pushed herself up onto her elbows – might as well get up. She shivered slightly from the temperature change as the blankets left her skin. A puppy rolled off her chest and bounced across the covers, uttering a soft yelp.

Hiro let a small smile curve onto her pale lips, staring at the animal with a look akin to one she'd give to Tsuna. The girl climbed out of bed carefully, so as to not disturb the mound of other critters snoozing in or around it.

Hiro pushed apart the curtains to let the sunlight through, shielding her eyes from its glare.

She sighed again. Might as well get dressed.

The poor soul had no idea what was in store.

-X27-

Hiro tramped outside into the soft snow – she was greeted by Yamamoto and Gokudera.

"Ah! Hey, Hiro, wanna come with us to the school? We're going to help Tsuna with the kids. Personally, I think that he's always stuck with taking care of them. Let's help him out today, haha!" Yamamoto called. Gokudera grouched in another drift of snow, obviously embarrassed to be caught in such company.

They both paused in their actions: Yamamoto waving and Gokudera smoking.

Hiro stood completely bundled up. She wore fluffy white boots with equally fluffy pompoms dangling from them, a pair of jeans meant for comfort tucked into them, and a huge white coat – also lined with faux fur. The coat reached her knees, and the hood was left resting on her back. More white pompoms swung from her drawstrings. An extremely (as Ryohei would say) long scarf (also white) wrapped three times around her neck and still seemed to have room to reach her knees. A white beanie, white mittens, and white ear mufflers completed her snow-ninja costume.

Yamamoto sweatdropped. "It's not that cold…"

Gokudera scoffed. "She's so weak – there's no way all those layers are necessary. Can you even move?"

As an answer to his question, Hiro pulled a house slipper out of the fourth dimension that only animated females could access, and slapped him over the head, as pulling off her boot to throw at him was too cold and not worth the trouble.

"Let's go. I hate the cold." Hiro trudged ahead to the school.

-10051-

"Everyone! What are you guys doing here?" Tsuna asked, caught totally off guard by the gathering of all his closest friends.

One of Tsuna's friends, who was apparently named Dino, rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "We realized that you're always stuck with playing with the little ones, so we decided to come out to help you."

Hiro could see the adorable tears of gratitude in Tsuna's chocolate orbs. She melted right there and started patting him on the head. Tsuna blushed, trying to swat away her mitten-covered hands.

"Who's this?" Dino asked, his friendly tone curious. Hiro turned her dark eyes to stare at the Chiavarone.

"She's Tsuna's subordinate," Reborn stated with finality as he materialized out of thin air.

"Ah… I see? It's nice to meet you!" the blond said cheerfully. Hiro took the hand offered silently.

"If we're going to take care of the kids, then it has to be a snowball fight!" Yamamoto declared, already packing a glove full of snow. He was greeted by a chorus of agreement, except for Hiro and Tsuna. Hiro because she didn't care and also didn't like cold, and Tsuna because he was just dismayed. _These guys are just like kids!_

"I will extremely win!" Ryohei yelled. Hiro flinched, and the patched of skin exposed on her cheeks reddened.

_Poor Hiro-san…_ Tsuna shook his head.

"I already predicted this, so I drew up teams. Dino, stupid cow, Gokudera, Haru, Ryohei. You're the red team. Dame-Tsuna, Kyoko, I-Pin, Yamamoto, Hiro, you'll be the white team." Reborn announced out of the blue. Stupid baby.

"You have thirty minutes to prepare. The object of the game will be to get Leon. Go."

Most didn't even try to complain – Reborn would always get what he wanted. If he didn't, he would shoot.

Right off the bat, Lambo just fell asleep.

"Is this fair, I wonder?" Tsuna murmured. He glanced at the small cow anxiously.

Hiro just sighed, and darted out from the cover of their snow fort. Yamamoto gave a cry of surprise as she sped toward the mound where Leon-the-green-ball was nested.

"EXTREME!" Sasagawa Ryohei zipped out the other fort, heading in a beeline for Leon as well. Hiro, surprisingly, didn't notice. Her eyes were trained only on the shining, green sphere. The sooner this was over, the sooner she could be warm.

This probably explained their collision – Ryohei didn't have "turning" in his vocabulary, and thus not in his physical function. Hiro just didn't see.

Which led to the awkward position of Hiro half on her side, half on top of Ryohei.

Which led to Hiro fainting.

Tsuna slapped his forehead and dragged his hand down. Poor, poor soul.

"Oi! Oi, are you extremely okay!?" Ryohei screamed at the bright red face of Hiro, who might as well have been dead.

_It's not possible to be extremely okay, Onii-san… _Tsuna shook his head glumly.

-2727- (I will be slaughtered for this one)

Hiro awoke a while later.

And felt extremely cold.

She gave her fingers an experimental wiggle, and found that she couldn't move. Hiro blinked open her eyes, wincing at the sunlight reflecting off the great expanse of white. It would have been pretty, with the smooth fluff covering everything, and the evergreen trees creaking under the weight of frozen water.

It would have been pretty if she weren't freaking cold.

And wet.

And cold.

Did she mention cold? No, didn't think so.

The soft chirp of a bird made her wrench her eyes open again; disregarding the scream her eyeballs sent her brain through the convenient body mailman – nerve cells.

A small sparrow stared at the anomaly that was stupid enough to attempt suicide in the snow, fluffed its feathers, and took off again. She could make out the crunch of feet in the snow, and blearily lifted her head to see. A disciplinary armband, quite familiar to her by now, glared back.

"Kyouya-san," she stated apathetically, dropping her eyes back to the snow.

Fucking _cold._

A hand seized her upper arm harshly, yanking her from the snow without any apparent effort. Chunks of white fell from crevices in her clothing she never knew existed. They made soft thumps to join their fellows on the ground. She took this opportunity to glance around.

What the hell happened here?

It looked as if the grounds were torn up. She could still make out various body parts sticking out from the snow drifts. On top of all that, a giant turtle was aimlessly waving its limbs at the sky.

"…Why is there a giant turtle in Namimori…?"

"That's what I asked. Don't call me as if we were close," Hibari grumbled.

She didn't appear to have heard.

"Thank you." She dusted off the remains of accursed cold bringers from her clothes.

"You owe me," Hibari replied coolly, and left.

It was always an advantage to have people indebted to you. Speaking of which, a certain Sawada Tsunayoshi and baby had several debts in his favor. He'd retrieve them later.

Hiro glanced around, ignoring the wristband arm and the many-ringed one. She skipped over the limb that looked as if it came from Dino and finally rested on a petite figure slumped in the snow. A smush of brown feathered lightly over the expanse of white.

Hiro gently lifted the figure into a sitting position.

"Tsuna?" No response.

Ah well. She picked him up – he was unsurprisingly light.

This would be her 78th stray pet she took home.

**I'm sorry! This was short too… =_= But no worries, I have good things planned! AND it was a pretty fast update (for me). This is what happens when I have no internet – I write lots of fanfiction, and thus people are happy.**


	6. The Apathist's New Pet Is Her Boss

**Back again****! ****I am pro. I actually wrote Chapter 5 a day or two after Chapter 4, and I JUST finished Chapter 5, and am already doing Chapter 6. But the posting of course, is different, because it is a good tactic for more reviews. XDDD Hinthintnudgenudgewinkwink.**

**Everyone can now tell the sorta Suzumiya Haruhi chronological order here ****–**** it****'****s so messed up.**

**Onward! Into the gorgeous horizon ****–****"****Which is that way.****"**** =facepalm=**

**Oh, before that.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, I would keep Hibari, Mukuro, and Tsuna, and I would not be sharing.**

It was so warm… A big contrast to what he was in before – now that was cold. Wait, what was he doing again?

Oh yeah, he was in the snow…

Why the heck was he in the snow?

Snowball fight? It had something to do with all his friends –

Holy crap, he had fallen into a snow drift after that. Did he die from frostbite or something and this was heaven?

Tsuna's chocolate eyes shot open, and he scrambled upright. He sat on top of a thick futon, the blankets crumpled in his lap. He was wearing a white yukata, which sat loosely on his shoulders.

Eh, wait. Who changed him?

And whose house was this?

The floors were wooden, of course, and a few flower arrangements sat against the walls. He wouldn't say the room was big, but it wasn't exactly small either.

But the biggest thing that hit him, quite literally, was a dog. It was huge and black, and very much full of slobber. Tsuna made a face as he felt drool trickle down his cheek.

A variety of animals peeked out from behind the curtains, and a cat strolled out the door. Rabbits, canaries, hamsters – you name it, they were probably there.

Tsuna sweatdropped. What the heck is this!?

The door slid all the way open, and a very familiar head poked its way through the doorway.

"Hiro-san!" Tsuna exclaimed. She nodded slightly, and smiled.

"Boss." The cat that disappeared out the door previously wound around Hiro's ankles, purring affectionately. As if it was trying to trip her.

"Stop that." Hiro ordered. "You'll make me spill the food."

At this, Tsuna realized that there was a tray gripped carefully by his upperclassman, steaming slightly with green tea and dango. It was only until then that Tsuna thought about his hunger. His tummy grumbled.

Hiro grinned a little at this, and set down the tray in front of the little herbivore. Tsuna blushed.

"T-thank you… Did you take me from the school grounds?" He asked.

Hiro nodded affirmatively. "If you stayed there, you could have caught a cold."

Tsuna blinked. "Thank you again, but what about the others?"

Hiro tilted her head to the side contemplatively.

"They can stay and rot…"

Tsuna sweatdropped. "Hiro-san!"

"What?"

"…Never mind… Anyway, why do you have so many pets, Hiro-san?" Tsuna asked as he selected a stick of dango dripping in syrup.

Hiro shrugged, "I'm always taking home strays. And my dad does too, so they accumulate."

"Your father doesn't mind?"

"He's a bit of an animal fanatic – zoology was his first love. Now he's working in the government for something or other."

"What about your mother?" Tsuna mumbled past his next dumpling, knowing that if Reborn were here, he would be smushed into the ground for his horrible manners.

Silence.

"A-ah! I'm sorry if it was an inappropriate question! Please forget that I just asked – "

"She's in Europe, researching on something or another. She works as a robotics engineer."

"Oh…" Tsuna murmured. Maybe she wasn't on good terms with her mother.

Tsuna finished his food in silence, as Hiro petted the mob of creatures crowding around Tsuna's futon.

Realizing this was out of the blue, Tsuna suddenly asked, "Who changed me?"

"…I did."

Tsuna choked on his green tea, hacking and coughing enthusiastically into the tray. Hiro patted him lightly on the back.

"Don't worry, you run around in your boxers every day anyway. It's nothing new."

Tsuna flushed, but checked discreetly to see that he was indeed still wearing his boxers.

"I put you in front of the heater first so you wouldn't catch a cold – your underwear should be dry. Your clothes are in the dryer."

Tsuna nodded, face still red.

~B18~

Tsuna dressed swiftly, finishing off the last of the buttons on his coat and tugging on his mittens.

Hiro opened the door, frowning as the chilly air outside came in contact with her warmed skin. The pathway outside was free of snow, but everywhere else was covered in the mounds of white.

Tsuna pulled on his shoes and stepped outside, feeling the cold air burn his lungs. He turned to smile at Hiro, and said, "Thank you very much, Hiro-san."

She nodded, but then said, "There's no need to be so formal. We're friends, right?" A slight smile.

Tsuna blinked, startled. Then, he smiled as well.

"Uh-huh."

~X18~

Back to school, what joy.

Despite it still being freezing, the school regulations _still_ required the unfortunate girls to wear skirts, and so, they were freezing their butts off.

One girl in particular.

Hiro sneezed, pulling her scarf around her neck more tightly. The four thick layers she more over her uniform seemed non-existent. Her skirt brushed against her goose-bumped legs, but she couldn't feel it – her thighs had gone numb.

"Igarashi-san!" Hiro turned at the sound of her last name, and was met with the sight of … someone…

Who the hell was this again? He looked curiously familiar.

A black coat, the customary winter uniform for Namimori. A red armband. Ridiculous hair – was he planning to kill someone with this epithelial mass of a horror growing from his head?

It looked quite proficient in the stabbing area. Possibly lethal. Not only to others, but if it obstructed his vision… or caused him to topple over with its imbalanced weight… The outcome was obvious.

"I'm not sure if you remember me, but I'm Kusakabe Tetsuya. I believe either you or one of your friends beat me up along with my classmates earlier this year – the Vice-President of the Disciplinary Committee." His voice was deep, calm, and cautious. Testing the waters, perhaps?

"And what do you want? If it's revenge, I'm not interested. The morning is just too freaking cold." _Her _voice, on the other hand, was totally flat and devoid of relevant feeling. As per usual.

"No, that would be petty," he replied, as if appalled that she would suggest such a thing. "I have orders here from Hibari-san. He says he wants to collect his debt."

"…"

Kusakabe shifted anxiously. What was she thinking?

"Who's Hibari?"

The poor Vice-President choked and stumbled. He looked shocked for a moment.

"Are you alright? I'm not sure if someone as strange as you should be left with such a high position. If you want, I can take you to the nurse's room." Hiro offered in her bland tone.

"You're the one here who is strange!"

Kusakabe slapped his forehead. Mentally. For it wouldn't do if he lost that measure of composure – Hibari-san was counting of him!

With that thought in mind, he stood resolute.

The reply he had was, "I think you'd better come with me – don't worry about your classes, Hibari-san already sent them a message."

"Will it be warm?"

"Undoubtedly – the Head Prefect could hardly be left in harsh conditions."

"Lead the way."

~R27~

(haha. I mean the adult Reborn, geez. Not much better. But still.)

Kusakabe eventually stopped in front of the door labeled Reception Room. Though Hiro had been there before, seeing as it _was_ her, she probably wouldn't remember in the first place.

So thank goodness for Kusakabe.

Kusakabe reached out of knocked firmly, twice, on the wooden surface.

"Come in." A cool voice called out, muffled by the heavy door.

The VP reached for the doorknob, twisted, and pushed.

Then he stepped inside.

Hiro followed, once more eyeing the furnishings with mild approval.

At the desk of dark wood in the back of the room, a figure signed a sheet of paper and shifted into a stack.

"Hibari-san, I brought her." Kusakabe announced, striding up to the aforementioned desk.

Hibari looked up, noting the presence of the teenage girl.

"Hey."

Hiro switched her attention from the furniture to the more important person in the room.

"I have a favor to call in, I believe." His slate eyes glinted.

~TYL!1827~

"Hiro-san!" Tsuna called, waving enthusiastically. Hiro made her way through the cafeteria with school-bought yakisoba bread held carefully in her hands. She wound around the other students, pacing delicately over trash and fallen food items.

Gokudera scoffed as Hiro reached them and sat down, opening the packaged bread.

"I suppose you have some worth if you saved the Tenth from potential frostbite," Gokudera admitted grudgingly. "But don't think that because of this I'll – _Holy shit_, what the _fuck_ is that **thing **on your arm?!!"

At this, Tsuna and Yamamoto blinked and stared in interest at the mentioned arm. It looked normal enough, clothed in the customary long-sleeves of their winter uniform. Outside, it would have been also wrapped in another few layers of clothing, but the cafeteria was pretty toasty. Even so, she left a warm scarf around her neck.

But we digress.

Glaringly obvious, other than the normal uniform, was a very familiar-looking red armband, lined with gold thread, and also inscribed in gold, some inconspicuous kanji.

"Hiro-san… Is that what I think it is?" Tsuna asked, a sense of foreboding even shown on his cute face.

"That depends on what I think you think it is."

"…Huh?" Yamamoto blinked intelligently.

"…What do you think it is?" Hiro clarified.

"Um. An armband…"

"Then it is exactly what you think it is."

"But… Is it a _Disciplinary Committee_ Armband?" Yamamoto asked.

"That depends. Do you _think _it's a Disciplinary Armband?"

"Yes."

"Then it is also exactly what you think it is."

"Can it be both…?" Yamamoto asked again.

"Of course it can. Tsuna's thoughts are just a more general question – yours is a subcategory of what he said."

"What?"

"Just everyone shut up for a second!" Gokudera snapped. "Meaning no disrespect, Juudaime."

"Y-yeah…"

"You joined them!?!? How could you do something so… _stupid?_" Gokudera turned on Hiro.

Hiro shrugged, "He had a favor to call in so I obliged. And they were short on desk staffing."

"…You must be an idiot. This is blatantly fraternizing with the enemy! As there's no coercing done in this kind of situation, that's the only outcome when confronted with such insubordination to Juudaime!"

"…"

"…"

"Gokudera-kun, could you run that by us again?" Tsuna ventured.

"Haha, Gokudera really starts spouting when he's worked up." Yamamoto grinned.

"That's the dumbest habit I've ever heard." Hiro deadpanned.

Gokudera, to their amazement, flushed slightly.

"Sorry…"

Wow, was that an apology?

"Only to Juudaime though."

That's more like it.

"So you're part of the Disciplinary Committee now? What do you do?" Tsuna asked while sipping his milk tea (from the vending machines).

"Stuff. Paperwork, delivering messages. Stuff. I think I might be promoted to actually keeping the Discipline if I work hard though." Hiro replied, a slight note of interest invading her tone. Hey, it was more interesting than paperwork and being someone's errand girl. Honestly.

"Keeping… discipline?" Tsuna paled visibly. As in beating people up, right? Not only that, she was talking as if "Discipline" were another religion or something. And that in itself was frightening enough.

"Don't worry, Boss. If you end up breaking some rules, I never saw them," Hiro assured. Tsuna relaxed only slightly – what about those other delinquents? Tsuna hoped she wouldn't get beaten up. After all, she wasn't any lightweight boxing champion or insanely talented baseball player or equally strong delinquent or a mafia boss. Plus she was a girl.

"Then again, if it were Hayato…" Hiro trailed off contemplatively.

"Shut up! Don't call me by my first name!" Gokudera snarled.

"I'm older than you."

"Which makes you my enemy!!"

"I thought that was only for men," Yamamoto wondered aloud.

"_She's _the exception." The silver-haired bomber huffed.

And puffed. And _blew _the house down. Unless it was a brick wall.

Which it was.

Hiro's brick wall expression didn't change in the least, instead opting to finish her lunch.

Then she removed her shoe and chucked it into his forehead.

Hard.

As in really hard, I'm not kidding.

For the record, and for perspective, it left a sizable bruise and a lump on Gokudera's pale forehead.

Hiro would have smiled, but only small animals (i.e. Tsuna) had the privilege to see that.

My work here is done.

~TBC~

Ending song (for the first time ever): Schadenfreude – Avenue Q


	7. An Apathist's OneEighty

**Authoress: Bwaha. Review, kiddies.**

**Disclaimer: Once again. If Hibari were mine, you people wouldn't be reading this, 'cause he'd be in my closet and you wouldn't even know he existed.**

"TENTH! I really suggest that you reconsider that Hiro woman!" Gokudera complained, slapping a bandage on yet another sizable lump caused by what was undoubtedly Hiro's handiwork.

"Ah... Gokudera-kun. Did she hit you again?" Tsuna asked sympathetically, while thinking that Gokudera really shouldn't be provoking her in the first place.

"I'm sorry, Tenth! I wasn't fast enough to dodge and so failed as your right-hand man!" The bomber wailed.

"It's fine, it's fine," Tsuna sweatdropped, "But sometimes I feel that Hiro-san should open up a little more - I can never tell what she's thinking."

"That can easily be arranged," a horrifyingly familiar voice chirped.

Tsuna swiveled slowly on the spot. "Reborn?!"

"Ciaossu," the baby replied, dressed in some odd outfit consisting of several flowers and leaves to "camoflage" into the bushes.

Tsuna paled, and screamed, "Put on some pants!" which was prompty ignored.

Reborn continued as if nothing was said, "I have some contacts for that. Hiro's personality, I mean."

Despite himself, Tsuna was interested. "How the heck can you do that?"

"Well, there was this certain family that specialized in the general area - "

"More MAFIA!?" Tsuna shrieked.

"Interrupt me again, and I'll shoot you."

"Yessir."

"You're all aware of the Bovino family, I trust?" Nods all around. _Too well_, was thought in unison.

"And did you think the only specialized weapon they had was the Ten-Year Bazooka?"

"..........Ahh..."

~100 Marshmallows~

The plan was for Gokudera to do it. He probably had the best aim, and was more than happy to oblige. I mean, shooting some crazy woman who was always on your case or attending classes that were too easy?

Gokudera actually pulled on a set of yellow-tinted shrapnel goggles, and lit his cigarette. The neon green shade of the rifle clutched in his hands should me made illegal, he thought. Not to mention it was disgustingly conspicuous. The italian supposed that all of the Bovino family needed to mark these with bright colors, or else they were so stupid that they kept losing them.

The boy switched the angle of his cigarette and grinned cheerily. Target in sight.

His beloved Tenth was bringing her out, as he was the one she trusted the most. The poor mafia boss refused to do it, but had a gun pointed to his temple as consequence. No choice, eh.

Not to mention that Tsuna wasn't doing a great job of it. He was nervous and fidgety, and constantly glanced at the rooftop where Gokudera was situated. Well, Gokudera wouldn't think such a thing. He'd probably think that Tsuna was doing great at being 'natural.'

"Set the setting to medium," Reborn had decided. This would definitely make her personality change noticable, but not dramatic.

Gokudera flicked through the settings boredly, and adjusted his goggles.

Tsuna had her positioned just right, with her back facing the vengeful bomber. He almost cackled with glee. The rifle was aimed perfectly between her shoulder blades. Reborn said it wouldn't matter where it hit, as long as it was on her body somewhere. The shoulder blades seemed to be the best target for a clean shot.

His finger hovered over the trigger, and placed a slight pressure on the area. Out of nowhere, a blur came crashing in. Gokudera's cigarette was plucked ot delicately and squished. A long-fingered hand wrapped around the gun.

Gokudera Hayato found himself staring directly into the cobalt eyes of Hibari Kyouya, which were narrowed, dangerous, and only two centimeters away.

"Smoking on campus is against the rules." He hissed.

There was the sound of gas escaping from a tight container, and they both looked toward the noise. That rifle had spouted a missle when Hibari crashed into the busy delinquent.

The point end of the rifle had somehow registered it's position before, and headed directly toward the intended target. Hiro hardly had time to register the sound before she was conked out.

~69 Pineapples~

"I hope what you did wasn't permanent, Reborn," Tsuna grumbled disapprovingly. They stared on at the prone form of Igarashi Hiro, who was sleeping soundly on a white hospital bed in Shamal's office. Tsuna didn't dare leave, for fear of Hiro being molested by the pervert. Also, Gokudera was placed in the next bed over, having been thoroughly beaten by Hibari. All his cigarettes were confiscated, and he was NOT a happy camper. The only reason he was in here was because Reborn threatened both his and Shamal in order for him to let the silver-haired boy to stay, and for said boy to actually STAY.

"Of course it's not permanent," Reborn replied calmly. "It just happens indefinitely until something utterly shocking or serious occurs. She'll be back to her normal self if hr grandmother dies or something of the sort."

"Are you sure?" Tsuna eyed the bed nervously. Hiro looked kinda... vegetable-like. Then again, we all do when sleeping. Except for those uproarious snorers out there.

"Would you like to try?" Reborn whipped out Leon, already into the shape of a pistol. It glinted ominously.

"Um. No. That's okay."

"Well then, stop asking stupid questions."

Hiro's eyelids fluttered. A few fingers twitched, and her blank eyes slid open. She blinked slowly, once, and shifted her gaze from the ceiling to Tsuna.

Imagine Tsuna's surpise when...

"Tsuu-chan!" Hiro squealed happily, leaping out of bed as if she were never sick before in her life and tackling Tsuna to the ground.

"I missed you!" She pouted.

Tsuna laid on the ground, shell-shocked. He couldn't really seem to be able to move his limbs, but that was okay. Tsuna just wanted to make sure his brain and heart were working. His heart seemed to wiggle and flop.

Tsuna hoped to his dear pineapples that that constituted as a beat.

Attempting to pull himself together (and failing miserably), he tapped her shoulder nervously and asked, "Are you... okay? Hiro-san?"

She pulled away slightly from the hug, and a stern expression appeared - a shadow of her old self.

"Now, Tsu-chan, you must call me Hiro-chan! We're friends, right?" She grinned suddenly, and attempted to bruise his ribs.

At this moment, Gokudera burst through the curtains, his Tenth-senses obviously tingling.

"Damned woman! What are you doing to the Tenth?" He roared, whipping out his full arsenal of explosives.

"Ah! Hayato!" She commented, surprised and pleased.

She leapt across the room with all the grace of ballerina. An elephantal ballerina.

Hiro crashed into the furious student, and glomped him as well, hugging him cheerily to her chest.

"How are you?" She asked.

"I've been better," Gokudera croaked, totally taken aback. Hiro smiled at him, and then proceeded to do the unthinkable.

_Chu~_

On the bright side, it was only on the cheek.

Then again.

On the sad side... Hibari Kyouya chose this opportune moment to walk in.

Hiro, totally unashamed, spun Gokudera around in order to hug Hibari as well.

And let the awkward yet deadly silence ensue.

Now, possibly even more oblivious than before, Hiro smiled happily at the disturbed future Cloud Guardian.

"Morning, Kyou-kun!"

Siii...lence...

~39 Sharks~

"Well, the Bovino Boss told me that this effect of the rifle will change every day. Her personality will adopt a new twist each time the clock strikes twelve. When I asked, he replied that only something very serious or shocking happening to her will shake the effects away." Reborn noted.

Tsuna groaned miserably. They were assembled in Hibari's Reception Room, as per request from the small infant. Hiro was making herself comfortable on the sofa next to him, arms wrapped around his elbow and cheek pressed into his shoulder. She was giggling softly, amusing herself with Tsuna's puffy hair, which was tickling her face.

Yamamoto and Reborn sat on the sofa across from the two, and Gokudera was on Tsuna's other side, glowering protectively at the female student. Hibari leaned against the wall next to the window, staring outside as if totally uninterested in the proceedings.

Then, he spoke, the monotonous note hardly giving anything away. "I hope this can be resolved swiftly. I do not believe that this … _thing _has any capability to manage the Disciplinary affairs in its current state. "

"Reborn," Tsuna whined, glancing pleadingly at the baby. If the Arcobaleno were anyone else, he may have either melted or molested him on the spot, but as he wasn't, Reborn just scoffed.

"You're the one who wanted her to change, Tsuna."

"B-But not this... _extremely_," Tsuna winced at his word usage.

"Well. Why didn't you say so?"

Tsuna just moaned in reply and smacked his head against the armrest. Hibari zoned in at the action and frowned disapprovingly at the boy.

Tsuna stopped, feeling the chills of the glare.

"You'll have to live with it, unless you feel up to curing her state by randomly surprising her or something. It'll be difficult, I'll warn you ahead of time. She's still herself, so her underlying fickleness will let her adapt to any situation." Reborn yawned. "Time for my nap time..."

Tsuna slowly processed what he was told, and frowned slightly.

"But Reborn, how - " Only the soft "shopee" sounds Reborn made as he slept greeted the poor boss, along with the sight of a nose bubble expanding.

Tsuna sighed and smacked his head into the armrest again, this time ignoring the slight grumble from Hibari.

~ 48 Spanner-Shaped Lollipops~

Tsuna and the others worked out their game plan. Every few times today, one or two people would attempt to jar her from her strange state.

Reborn smirked. Let the games begin.

~18 Hedgehogs~

"Hi, everyone!" Hiro sang as she skipped into class.

A few classmates gave a cheery greeting back before freezing to rethink that.

Wait, what?

They were stunned into silence until Gokudera seized the collar of her uniform and tossed her outside, into Yamamoto. The taller boy grinned down at her. She blinked, but smiled happily at the baseball nut.

"Hello! What brings you guys here?"

"If this is even possible, the bitchy woman is less bitchy and more annoying than before," Gokudera grouched, running a hand through his silvery tresses and lighting a cigarette. He shoved it irritably past his lips, and glared at the tranquil girl. Her only response was to grin up at him and chirp, "I love you too, Gokudera." Which left him attempting to retch the remains of breakfast along with stomach acid.

"Okay, Gokudera. Stop playing and come over here – it's our turn, you know." Yamamoto chuckled. Gokudera just scowled at the taller teen and sighed, running a hand through silken locks.

"I solemnly swear that this is only for Juudaime," he gritted, and walked forward to wrap his lean arms around her torso.

Pause.

Dot. Dot. Effing. Dot.

"Haha, Gokudera, you're so adorable," she hummed. Gokudera pulled back swiftly with an expression of utmost revulsion, and shuddered, as if to rid himself of the sensation.

"Didn't work huh..." Yamamoto shrugged, and scratched the back of his head in defeat. "Ah well."

"You fail, baseball-freak. You friggin' fail."

~27 Tuna~

Apparently, Ryohei and Tsuna were to pair together for their endeavor.

Tsuna whispered firmly into Ryohei's ear, "Onii-san, please say that you love her when you see her. Try to be quiet and not in public..."

"I extremely cannot play with someone's feelings like that! That would be extremely uncool!"

"No, this is for her own good, her feelings are already messed up. Do this as a favor for the rest of us!"

Eventually, Ryohei agreed, gruffly settling down.

Hiro slid open the classroom door. "Tsuna? You wanted to meet me again?"

Tsuna smiled and nodded, gesturing furiously to Ryohei, who didn't exactly seem like he was getting the clue. When the boxer finally realized his cue, he began to spout twisted words of love and devotion, to which she responded to by chuckling and kissing him on the cheek.

Tsuna hung his head.

"There isn't really much for me to work with, I need something … that would really shake her," Reborn mused. His gaze flicked to the window, where a shorter prefect was standing. He smirked.

"Igarashi Hiro," started the intercom, "Report to the Reception Room immediately."

There was the crackle of static as the intercom turned off. Every eye in her class turned to stare at the now bubbly girl, who giggled and chirped, "I wonder what that could be?"

She left for the third floor of the other class building.

Hibari heaved a sigh, glaring darkly into the solid wood of his desk. He now wished that he hadn't agreed to help the baby with another favor, even if it was to get him more into debt.

However, Hibari Kyouya always keeps his promises. Not doing so would be a despicable thing to do.

The door opened wildly as the girl in the center of this favor entered, bouncing irregularly across the room.

"Kyouya," she sang, but froze at the gentle sound of vibration in her pocket. She pulled out a cell phone, which Hibari narrowed his eyes at.

"Cell phones are to remain silent during- " He was silenced by her smaller hand's finger brought to her lips. He twitched. If this person wasn't his very useful secretary...

"Hello hello?" she bubbled. There was a slight hum of another voice over the phone, and her smile froze, as if the ice age had taken over.

The hand that was held up to her lips lowered, and her smile slowly faded. The light in her eyes dimmed, and visage slackened into a very familiar, blank canvas.

"I understand." These words were spoken in a monotone, very calmly, though with an underlying hint of tightness.

Igarashi Hiro would be leaving for China the next day.


	8. Why Must My Family Be Dysfunctional

**I'm just.. not gonna elaborate on the number of rings needed. It's not exactly doable with 8 rings anyway. You know the story, just follow along. Nod and smile... I promise next chapter will be better. The next two chapters is a scene that I've been planning for since before the creation of the fic. 8D So it's bound to be better. **

**And uh... Since I'm not getting that many reviews, I'll just go ahead and assume that no one wants to read it – I mean, what's the point in continuing if there's hardly anyone reading? Please let me know if you want me to continue! (I don't mean to sound harsh or anything, I actually like this fic – It's just that if not too many people genuinely want to read it...)**

Sawada Tsunayoshi tapped a worried foot, biting his lip gently and creasing his eyebrows.

"Dame-Tsuna, there's nothing to be done." Reborn stated, smacking the boy surprisingly lightly.

"But Reborn..." he whined softly.

"The Ring Battles are predetermined, it's you're duty to see it through the finish."

Just four days ago, this group called the Varia paid them an unwelcome visit – they, as in all the friends Tsuna had in Namimori, would be participating in something called a Ring Battle, where they'd compete for the other half of a Vongola Ring. Tsuna had protested immensely over this, complaining and squealing random excuses, among of which was that he just finished fighting Mukuro – another fight was dumb. Reborn rejected that idea immediately. By now, Tsuna had somewhat calmed down. Reborn had a general idea of what was going on this time. And it wasn't Sawada Iemitsu either.

"Hiro-san is still in China..." the small boy murmured, turning his half of the Vongola Ring nervously.

"She should have received her ring," Reborn nodded. The Vongola would get it to her no matter where she was. "She's probably training or something – all was explained to her in mail."

"But... I feel bad about dragging her – no, everyone into this." Tsuna muttered. The Rings were made known only the four days prior. Gokudera received half of his Storm attribute Ring, and Yamamoto and Ryohei got Rain and Sun, respectively. Reborn wouldn't tell him who got the Mist, Cloud, and Lightening, but did tell him that in China, Hiro was given the Ring with the attribute of Hail, if only to ease his students incessant trepidation.

Not only were Rings distributed, but tutors were as well. Reborn informed that each of the members of his "family" would have their own teacher in order to get stronger. Dino and Colonello were among these few.

"If you have time to complain, let's go train," Reborn said, and dragged a screaming Tsuna out of the house.

Tsuna was beaten, tired, and bruised. Each step (stumble, really) ignited his muscles into burning pain, and he flinched at light touches. It hurt too much to tell, but Tsuna hoped that he didn't break anything.

_What was Hiro-san doing in China? _Tsuna wondered. According to a very disgruntled Hibari, she had received a phone call and snapped out of the effects of the Bovino weapon immediately. Further investigation revealed that the call was from her very own mother.

_Hiro-san..._

The days dragged on, and Tsuna could feel the tension rising. Each one of his friends seemed more nervous, and prone to jumping at loud noises at times. He felt the same, and on top of it all, worried about each and every one of them.

There were six days left.

Tsuna waved goodbye to his ever faithful right-hand man at his doorstep, and turned to open the door. The house was filled with the scent of warm food, and he could hear his mother humming as she chopped vegetables.

"I'm home," he called weakly.

"Welcome back!" his mother replied, and continued humming. He dropped off his bag, and half-listened to his mother as she chattered about trivial things, and asked him how his day was.

"Yeah..." he muttered absently. He left, closing the door to his room upstairs gently.

"Tsu-kun?" Nana blinked in confusion.

It was time.

He had trained hard for this, and had gone through some very painful conditions just to participate in this day. He mentally groaned, and dug his small hands into his fluffy mass of cinnamon hair.

"Haha, Tsuna, you okay?" Yamamoto touched his shoulder comfortingly.

"Don't touch Juudaime and talk to him so familiarly!" Gokudera spat, raging once more at the calm swordsman.

Tsuna smiled slightly, glad to know that everything was still the same.

These strange women, Cervello, they called themselves, stepped forward. Apparently, their job was the guide the battles and to judge fairly. Their opponents were strange at best, and stood across from them on the school rooftop.

A grinning boy with a crown, a small baby, a man with funny piercings, a guy with three different hair colors, a silver-haired swordsman, a large machine man, and an imposing one with burn scars across his face. What a lovely group.

"First battle," one of the pink-haired ladies intoned, "The battle for the Ring of the Sun: Sasagawa Ryohei and Lussuria." They went on further, to describe the points of the fight. It was held in a blindingly bright stadium – a boxing stadium, Tsuna realized, having been in one before.

Tsuna let out a breath of relief when Ryohei won, but fussed over his injuries along with Kyoko, to which he just replied with an "extremely fine!" to brush aside his beloved sister's worries.

_This process would keep repeating,_ Tsuna thought. _Until all the Ring have been battled for. But Hiro-__san isn't here yet..._

The days progressed, with Tsuna continuously panicking over each of his close "subordinates." Lambo was sent the hospital, Gokudera was sent to the hospital, Yamamoto was sent to the hospital.

At this rate, they'd all die because some twisted old man with no sense of humor decided to throw them all together for a battle. Joy!

They were assembling for another battle, this time for the Mist Guardian's position.

Tsuna waited in anticipation and fear – what if they didn't show up? Reborn seemed to read Tsuna's mind and kicked him in the head, Colonello following closely behind.

Tsuna winced, twin bumps rising out of his already puffy hair. Tears streamed down his face in a comical fashion, but he could still see something.

The door swung open slowly, ominously. Tsuna shivered, _Who was the Mist Guardian?_

The door frame was shrouded in the thick fog they had that night (Ironically), and Tsuna couldn't make out the definite shape in the threshold.

Reborn smirked again.

A figure wearing various shades of gray stepped through – a figure Tsuna knew very well.

Slate hair, now skimming mid-back instead of waist-length, and eyes that were as deadpan and as devoid of important emotion as ever.

"Hiro-san...?"


	9. Cervello Tend To Be Ridiculous

**If I ever contradict myself, I'm so, so sorry. I get irked when writers contradict themselves, and that applies to myself as well – I tried my best to get the facts straight!**

**Review, please. Juudaime's moe-ness commands it to be so.**

**Disclaimer: This is a disclaimer. (AHA - =shot=)**

The very same Igarashi Hiro stood boldly in the doorway, and strode through in a purposeful way, making a beeline for Tsuna.

She had changed more than just the length of her hair. She was no longer wearing a uniform like in the school days – now she was clothed in dark gray cargo pants with a black, hooded vest, which in fact looked a little short.

What was more intriguing was the fact that bandages covered most of her frame, and all of the skin that would have been exposed by her outfit were wrapped in the white cloth. Even an arm was left in a sling, also bandaged. A strip wound around her throat, as well as around her forehead. Several adhesive bandages decorated her face and shoulders. Medicinal tape held others over tender places.

"Hiro-san...!" Tsuna yelped, taking in her injured state. She stayed silent, instead opting to stroke his hair with an uninjured hand.

_ Haven't felt this in a long, long time... _She hummed inwardly. Her nostalgic reprieve was broken in by voice on the other side of the gym. (And Gokudera's indignant yells, but that was normal.)

"Ushishi... The Mist Guardian is a woman."

"H-How bewitching..."

Tsuna blinked at the comments, and turned to stare at the older girl, "Hiro-san... You're not the Mist Guardian... Right?"

Hiro nodded in confirmation, "I just wanted to see a battle. I am the Hail Guardian."

"Keke... She's mine, isn't she?" An individual chuckled from the Varia.

He was gloomy figure with rugged features, with dirty blond hair of a shaggy variety, and eyes a muddy brown. However, his visage was twisted into a cheerful grin, friendly and open. The boy lounged casually next to his boss, and instead of wearing the rather constricting leather pants the rest seemed to wear, he chose comfortable jeans and the leather Varia jacket.

Hiro just scanned over him blandly, and returned her attention to Tsuna as if he never spoke.

On the other side, the guy choked and frowned, while Bel decided to snicker at him.

"So where is your Guardian?"

"Here." The door opened once more.

Three figures stepped inside this time, and the fog parted to reveal a few very familiar faces to everyone but Hiro.

"Ah! You bastards, what do you want now! Be careful Juudaime!" Gokudera shouted, positioning himself before Tsuna.

Ken spat a few retorts that had Gokudera rekindled, and Tsuna had to pacify him, where a girl – Chrome Dokuro, she said, stated that she would be the Mist Guardian.

"There's no way! That person is Rokudo Mukuro, Juudaime! Careful not to be fooled!" Gokudera spat, "She's definitely him – Er, he's definitely her – it's true, whatever! He'll try and take over your body again!"

Hiro had the satisfaction of taking off her boot and smacking him over the head with it – Ah... Haven't done that in a while.

Gokudera swore, practically foaming at the mouth when Hiro maneuvered to sit on him. Very calmly.

Belphegor had burst into more giggles, but he was ignored by the general public.

Aww, poor Bel.

Anyway.

Hiro tilted her head slightly in contemplation, staring intently at the pineapple-headed girl.

_ Cute..._

Tsuna, with his ultra-super-awesome-amazing-hyper-intuition, felt that Chrome was not in fact Rokudo Mukuro, and let her fight.

Which she responded by kissing him chastely on the cheek. This rose a fury in Gokudera (because he wanted to do it first) and threw Hiro off of him, once more raging at the girl – Where Yamamoto and Ryohei had to restrain him. Ken threw a few insults, hitting Gokudera right in the ego, and sent the boy into a deeper rage.

Chikusa rolled his eyes. "Just be quiet, Ken. I want to shower..." he sighed, pushing his glasses up quietly.

Hiro and Chikusa glanced at each other, and shared a stare of acknowledgement.

Instant friendship.

The Cervello, probably fed up and feeling that if Tsuna's group won the Vongola would die, announced for the battle to start, where Chrome and Mammon, the baby of the other group, began their fight.

They were both superb illusionists, though technically it was impossible because this was a realistic manga about the Mafia. Then again, turning into babies and such wasn't entirely realistic – Hiro decided to just stop thinking.

Yeah, there's a good idea...

Hiro watched the fight through glassy eyes, but her mind wandered.

_ "Hiro," it was that woman's voice... "I have more shots. In China. You'll have to come get them."_

It was her mother, the lady that she didn't exactly like, but put up with anyway. She was a robotics engineer, but loved to create strange chemicals to inject into her daughter's body – not that they were harmful. Most of these were centered over Hiro's hemophilia, to attempt to slow the blood flow for maybe a period in time. Her mother wanted to see if she could create something entirely new for her condition. Not that her mother cared or anything.

So Hiro went to China, and had to stay for a while for the testing. Then, a ring and a letter were received through "mysterious foreigner post," where a ninja Italian dude dropped a box off for her and sneakily slid down the pipe.

She was then kept there for training as a Hail Guardian, trained by someone strange one named Fon.

So after those days were up, she was shipped back into Japan with a few syringes of her hemophilia-effects preventing injection.

And here she was.

Hiro eyed the fight apprehensively – the girl was going to lose.

Chrome, as she called herself, dodged another attack of blue tentacles and shot forward columns of fire, which seemed to not affect Mammon in the least. With a spin of a frog, Mammon encased her into a block of ice, and his very own face transformed into a metallic mallet.

Hiro clenched her fist slowly, watching the two shapes get closer and closer. There was a brief switch of atmosphere when Tsuna clutched at his head, and a boy – not girl – burst from the icy shell.

"Tsuna!" She started, and caught him as he tipped over. His only response was a groan of pain, and dug his fingers further into his scalp.

"Kufufu..." an ominous chuckle.

The rest was a blur, disoriented by the battle of illusions. Even Hiro found herself swearing quietly and clutching at her head, yet keeping a firm hold on Tsuna.

The Arcobaleno had burst and dissolved into some cloud of stuff, and dispersed out the window, whereas the Mist Guardian on Tsunayoshi's side landed gently on the wooden flooring, presenting a completed and shiny ring.

"The match is over and the Ring is in the possession of Chrome Dokuro," The Cervello intoned. "The next battle will take place at the school at eleven o' clock. All guardians must be present."

Tsuna stuttered out his thanks shyly, staring up at Mukuro with slight worry. Mukuro stated a few ominous words, and shook slightly.

"I'm feeling... a little tired..."

His figure fell slowly, and his form was turning into a female's even as gravity took them.

Hiro was there before Chrome hit, and caught her softly in bare arms.

"Her organs are here," she confirmed, and Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief.

Hiro stood all the way up, cradling the girl as one might have a newlywed bride.

"We should take her to the hospital..." she muttered blankly, and turned questioning eyes to Tsuna that clearly asked him to lead the way. Tsuna nodded quickly, leaving Reborn to exchange the threatening words with the opponents.

Hiro followed Tsuna down the street. It being nearly midnight, the streets were devoid of others and was illuminated by the yellow glow of street lamps.

They had gone to school as per normal – Tsuna couldn't help but marvel at how _normal _everything felt. He nearly laughed at the lameness of it all. Eight superheroes, students by day and fighting by night. So cliché.

The day whizzed by as he dreaded tonight – yet another of his friend would be hurt for this. It seemed that the more he didn't look forward to this night, the faster everything else went by.

Tsuna sighed and dropped his bag off in his room, collapsing onto the bed, and staring avidly at the ceiling. The white expanse that greeted his vision swam in front of his eyes, and he rubbed them fitfully. He wondered if Reborn succeeded in getting Hibari and Chrome at the mandatory battle tonight...

"Ugh..." he groaned softly.

A foot met his face, leaving a greeting in the form of a bruise.

"Hurry up and do your homework, Tsuna." He was back.

Tsuna sighed.

It was nighttime, and the clock ticked to ten forty-five. All his Guardians assembled one by one at the school gates, and the Varia seemed to already be there.

"Who do you think will be fighting today?" Yamamoto asked offhandedly, his lighthearted voice not betraying any worry.

"Well - " Tsuna began softly.

Gokudera, having not heard his beloved Juudaime, broke in, "Cheh, you are a total moron, baseball-nut. Obviously, it's either the woman or the bastard that's going today – they're the only ones left."

"Haha, I guess that's true," Yamamoto grinned.

Ryohei pumped his fist energetically, "Either way, this fight will be extremely extreme!"

Tsuna sweatdropped as he watched his friends duke it out, and edged past the gates.

They were greeted by the Cervello.

The ladies stated in their usual monotone, "We will be meeting on the roof once more. The stadium has been renovated."

Tsuna shivered – he didn't like their monotone. Hiro's voice was more or less the same, but he found comfort in it being familiar and warm – at least to him.

When they had reached the roof, the Varia, Hiro, Hibari, and and bandaged Chrome were already there. Lambo was cradled gently by one of the Cervello, which Tsuna frowned upon seeing – they really did mean it when they wanted them all...

A ridiculous contraption of metal and wire greeted their site on the roof. Hibari was plainly unhappy about it, but seemed to settle back into slight irritation when the Cervello informed him that it would be removed in a way that would make it seem like it was never there.

Taken from the bird's-eye-view, the contraption would look like a double-ended broom.

Two large, circular platforms were each welded onto their own twenty-foot pole, rising up from the roof. They were connected by a web of wire. A number of smaller platforms were arranged behind the bigger ones, seven to each side. A few strands of thin wire connected each to the platform it stood behind. A ladder was placed next to the circus-accessory, for the less adept Guardians to climb up on.

The Cervello took this moment to explain the rules.

"Each of the fighter's family will be placed on the smaller platforms. The fighters go on the bigger ones, where they will protect their family or attack the other one. All fighting should be done on the battle site, but falling is not penalized. The family members are not allowed to move from their platforms. The object of this stage is to gain points by injuries inflicted on the opposing team's family. A tie results in a one-on-one battle until one fighter cannot continue. A ladder will constantly be provided for your use. Family members are allowed to fight, provided they don't leave their post. A warning: the wires are very sharp." The didn't seem to need air as they spoke, but kept going without a single pause. Tsuna's head reeled – why was this battle so _complicated? _

Hibari's gaze flicked briefly to his secretary, and then switched back to the pink-haired atrocity. "Which one of us will fight?"

"This is the battle for the Hail Ring." They replied.

Hibari grumbled inwardly – he wasn't allowed to fight in such a fun battle; he could bite all of them to death.

Hiro remained silent, and reached down to retie her Converse. Her opponent sneered; as if that would help.

Hiro reached into her sports bag – it was lucky she came prepared. Shin guards from soccer club was strapped on, and padding for the forearms were calmly fitted. She flexed an arm contemplatively to judge the tightness, and, satisfied, reached inside once more. A wrapped package was withdrawn. Reborn smirked at the familiar item.

She stood, in her full "battle" regalia. Hiro eyed the structure contemplatively, and then glanced at Tsuna, finally to look at her opponent.

He grinned.

Hiro snorted.

Let the game begin.


	10. Vanity is a Sin

**Woot, update. I'm going to have a lot of fun slicing Hiro up. ^__^**

The Vongola side positioned themselves on the left side of the structure, and the Varia opted for the right. Some members had to be helped up, and others jumped magically up without the use of the ladder.

Hiro climbed the ladders purposefully, and only had eyes for the silvery ladder rungs in her face. Her adversary was already standing on his designated platform, grinning down at her. She ignored him, and pulled herself up with ease.

Then, she began stretching, nicely and slowly, relaxing tight muscle.

Behind her, Tsuna wobbled on his circular space, and glanced anxiously at the unconscious Lambo.

"Hiro-san - " He began, but was cut off by a curt nod. She understood – Lambo was to be protected to the best of her abilities.

She wiggled her toes in her Converse, and waited patiently for the others to get themselves situated. Chrome blinked at the ground so far, far below, Yamamoto grinned cheerily at the wind, and Gokudera just scowled and muttered something insignificant. Hibari stood perfectly balanced, with tonfa held loosely at his sides. Ryohei stared into a direction not pertaining to the situation and shouted something, pumping a fist.

Hiro glanced at the cubic package in her hands, and unwrapped the bandaging, letting its shell to fall away.

It was a dull gray box, with seemingly no significance whatsoever.

Tsuna stared at it – what was that?

Reborn hummed with recognition – wasn't that one of Fon's toys?

Her hands pried at it deftly, and began to flip through the smaller blocks composing it.

It was a... what was it.. Rubix cube? Or something, Tsuna supposed.

She twisted it in random movements, and her weapon emerged. With a few clicks, she withdrew an item.

But not just any item.

A ping-pong ball and paddle.

Tsuna felt his jaw drop – How was this going to help?

Frowning disapprovingly at the boy, Reborn felt the need to elaborate.

"This is Fon, an Arcobaleno's, play box. He designed it with another Arcobaleno, Verde, a long time ago – I just never would have thought that he would give this to her... It suits her."

Reborn sighed at Tsuna's bewildered expression.

"This box contains a huge variety of sports equipment. If you spin each in a particular order, a certain sport's items will be given out to you. I do not think she knows too many combinations, so this will just be a surprise box of a sort. Given her reputation for being fickle and her experience in so many different sports, this item is perfect for her. Fon was rather attached to this though... It makes me wonder why he gave it to her."

Reborn frowned again at the boy, and reached up to close his jaw for him. "You'll catch flies."

"How is a ping-pong ball going to help?" Tsuna blurted hysterically.

Hiro turned slightly to smile, as if to say, _Trust me._

Tsuna fell silent, watching her with creased brows.

"The fight for the Hail Ring, Vanaglo versus Igarashi Hiro. Begin!"

So that was his name.

Pretty lame, but each to his own.

Hiro placed the block down carefully, wielding a ping-pong paddle in one hand and the ball in another.

_PONG! _It smacked into the center of Vanaglo's forehead, and ricocheted back, where she hit it back again, and smacked his forehead.

_What … is she doing?! _Was the simultaneous thoughts of everyone witnessing this earth-shattering event.

Tsuna could see the twitch developing on Hiro's face when nothing happened, and hit it extra hard – _SPLAT_. A greenish-tinted goo dripped down his forehead, and the other actually winced – it burned.

_So Verde isn't senile after all... _Reborn mused.

Vanaglo frowned, scrubbing furiously at his face – it felt like his face was slowly being nibbled away. Luckily, none of the toxic substance had landed in his eyes, o he would've gone blind, a serious disadvantage. His hands reached toward his belt, and a three-segmented weapon was withdrawn.

_Nun chucks? _Hiro lifted an eyebrow. _With blades..._

The ends of the nun-chucks were tipped with a slim blade, and it whistled through the air at the fingers of an experienced user. Vanaglo smirked.

"I was hoping I didn't have to use this... but if any more nasty surprises came out of that thing, I'd be in a fix."

He charged, dashing forward with awkward movements across the slim web of wire. Hiro quickly dismantled her weapon, forming it back into a cube.

However, she wasn't fast enough. Her hands only held a useless cube, and left her totally unprotected. Vanaglo chuckled and swiped at her, drawing lines of bloody red down her arms.

_Hiro-san's reflexes aren't fast enough because of her injuries from her training... _Tsuna realized, eyes widening in horror.

She flinched, but scooped up the box and dashed toward the Varia, who Vanaglo had left open.

_Follow me... _ She thought, and disassembled the box again, this time creating a croquet mallet.

She targeted the most vulnerable one – Lussuria. Normally she wouldn't resort to low blows such as this, but this was for Tsuna.

Tsuna...

"Oh no~" Lussuria cried, unable to retaliate given that he was strapped to a bed.

The mallet hit, and the already weak opponent was rendered unconscious with a light smack.

"Two points to the Vongola's Igarashi Hiro for instant KO." A Cervello stated in her monotonous tones. They removed Lussuria from the fight.

Vanaglo hadn't followed her though. Hiro's eyes widened as he switched his gaze toward the equally, if not more defenseless Lambo.

_What... He didn't follow!?_

A deep chuckle.

Xanxus sported a feral grin on his scarred face, and said, "The Varia don't love each other like you trashes do. We hate the other scumbags, so this game will be our victory."

Hiro gritted her teeth, but dashed once more across their stadium, hands nearly a blur as she twisted and configured the cube in her hands.

_Not fast enough..._ She growled.

Something heavy, dark, and round ended up in her hands, and she threw it, not pausing to check what it was.

A twenty pound bowling ball crashed into Vanaglo's spine at an angle, and it should have dislodged the boy, but didn't. Of course, the Varia are trained assassins. What would they do if they couldn't even handle this much?

Vanaglo's torso jerked, but he grasped the edge of the silvery platform in a tight grip, his bladed nunchuks descending toward the cow-suited infant.

"Nn..." Hiro put on an extra burst of speed for more momentum, and shoved him out of the way, grasping Lambo before the blades could penetrate.

"Three points for Vanaglo for removal of a Guardian," the Cervello stated.

Gokudera and Tsuna simultaneously voiced a yelp of disbelief.

"You damned woman, don't move any of us off the platforms!" Gokudera spat. Hiro turned a deadly glare on him, daring him to question her choice to save Lambo.

"You may remove the Thunder Guardian from the game," the other Cervello stated. Hiro felt the fury rise. _Game?_

The battle was paused momentarily for Hiro to set the cow down, off to the side.

Tsuna murmured, "I know we're losing because of this, but I still can't help but feel relieved that Lambo won't be hurt any more."

"As expected of Juudaime! Such a caring heart, even toward brats like the stupid cow!" Gokudera sparkled.

Tsuna sweatdropped.

Hiro snorted, and stepped back up onto her platform. _Removing them from the platform is worth more, hm?_

Hiro made the first move, and fiddled with the cube while running as light as she possibly could over the slim wires. A flat snowboard seemed to materialize, which Vanaglo just raised an eyebrow at.

Bad move.

She had never snowboarded before, and there was no reason to start learning now. The flat piece of heavy wood impacted against Vanaglo's temple, sending him flying off to the roof below. The situation would have been quite comical, if it weren't for the fact that this battle was very serious.

The next easiest target there would be Mammon, who was sitting in a cage.

"Ah. Look, money." Mammon was also the only Varia member that she knew anything about.

He looked.

Hiro picked up the cage, and set him down on Vanaglo's empty platform.

"Three points to Igarashi Hiro for removal of a Varia member."

"Do your best, Hiro-san!" Tsuna called. Hiro flashed a small smile at him.

Vanaglo clambered back upward, smile ebbing.

"That hurt," he complained.

"Good."

He launched forward without warning, catching Hiro by surprise. She did an awkward turtle circus act, jogging hastily backward on the wires. The rubber soles of her shoes caught on the sharp wires, and they dug into the material. Hiro tripped, watching the nearing metal with a very blunt "Oh shit" expression.

She cried out as the slim webbing tore through the material of her clothing and sliced skin, thin cuts wrapping around different parts of her body. Vanaglo grinned triumphantly, and launched a fist into her abdomen.

Tsuna watched with horror as she fell toward the ground twenty feet down.


	11. Apathist is a Sadist

Haha, haven't updated for a while. 8D The G27 one is next. …I'd work on Accidentally A Womanizer, but I don't like it! 8DD Maybe later.

Enjoy! (Even though I'm hating on all OCs right now!)

Tsuna's eyes widened as he saw the mangled form on the concrete. Red painted the stone like an abstract painting – even Gokudera's eyes were shocked.

Vanaglo surveyed his work and clicked his tongue. "Tsk… Such a pity. Don't like to kill if I can't help it, but…" he shrugged. "Work's work."

The brunet was still in shock. He stood, frozen on his platform.

Gokudera recovered first, lighting a cigarette. Angry words sprouted from his lips, dynamite clenched in his fist. Vanaglo sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm really sorry about this."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, you fucking bastard – look how distraught you made Juudaime – I'll kill you, scummy - "

"Gokudera." Yamamoto laid a silencing hand on his friend's shoulder, reaching over their platforms.

"Hi… Hiro-san… Hiro-san!" Tsuna screamed, eyes tearing up and effectively blinding him. He was all for leaping off to check if she was okay – even though she obviously wasn't – when a warning kick from Reborn stopped him.

"Think, Dame-Tsuna. If you get off, we'll lose. All her effort would have been for nothing."

"I don't care!" Tsuna screamed back. Reborn was surprised, blinking at the unexpected outburst.

"What… What right did I have to do this? Th-This is all my fault! Hiro-san… Hiro-san is going to _die_, and you're going on about this ridiculous _game_?" He spat. Delicate hands gripped at his hair. "I-I can't just live with this, you know! Hiro-san… Hiro-san…!"

Vanaglo sighed again, and raked pale hands through his hair – evidently uncomfortable.

Dark… So dark… Hiro felt numb from pain, from cold. The only thing she knew was the empty darkness. Light? There was no light. Nothing to go toward, she supposed.

She could hear him.

It was faint, but if she really strained, she could hear Tsuna shouting.

Tsuna?

Shouting?

That's odd.

" – I don't give a damn about this stupid thing, all I want is for everyone to go home! Gokudera and Yamamoto… Lambo, Onii-san… even Mukuro and Chrome-san were injured so much for this. I don't want to lose Hiro-san! Stop – let me go – I'm going down there – Can't you see that she needs a freaking doctor!"

Reborn approved of his care for his family, but this was a different kind of situation.

"Shut up and settle down, Tsuna. This isn't just about you right now. The Vongola – no, the whole world will be impacted from what you do here. I know you're scared for Hiro…"

He faded out.

Wait, I want to hear… Hey…

Darkness was pretty constricting.

Damn it, let me hear what's going on… Seeing – even better. Ouch. Breathing hurts. Did that moron break something? Crud.

Pain brought her home. Haha. That's funny. She was suddenly aware of the broken rib – maybe ribs – something along her back and her upper chest area… Maybe it was a collar bone? An ankle hurt pretty badly, but it didn't feel broken. Moving her right arm was near impossible. There was definitely something broken in there.

But vision came back. It was blurry and unfocused, but seeing something was better than nothing.

_Hey, it's so red… Where am I? If they moved me before I finished my fight, I'll kill something…_ Eyelids fluttered open, meeting poured concrete. Or, what remained of it. Reddish brown color formed a splatter around her – she was lying in a pool of her own blood.

…That's.. pretty disgusting. I need a shower.

A finger twitched. Assessing damage. Cuts of various sizes and shapes wrapped around her entire body – her clothes would most certainly not be worn again. The long hair she had previously was missing chunks, but at least it didn't hurt. Her mind drifted, thinking of irrelevant things…

"Lowly herbivores… Attacking Namimori students and tarnishing school grounds. Capital offenses. I will bite you all to death."

"Hah… Well, I'm sure you're very formidable, but I don't think that will happen," Vanaglo laughed apologetically. "You see, the game is still in session. So I'll have to pick off a few of you – I'm really, really sorry about this…"

Without warning, he dashed forward, heading toward the heavily bandaged Gokudera. The silvet growled something profane and launched dynamite. The huge explosion rocked the building. There were a few tense silences and Vanaglo ran right out of the smoke, blades poised.

"Shit," Gokudera managed.

"Stop."

Funnily enough, Vanaglo paused. What kind of idiot does that? Anyway.

All eyes were drawn to the mauled figure below. She was slowly getting up, blood dripping off like some twisted rainstorm caught her. She staggered and nearly slipped in the liquid, but slowly and surely walked toward the poles again. One foot in front of the other. One at a time. Slowly…

Her expression was oddly blank – blanker than usual. No anger, no irritation, no shock, no pain, no … anything.

She mechanically climbed up, the action causing her great difficulty. Vanaglo eyed her with some sympathy, but faced her with the respect she deserved. A bloody hand lifted her puzzle box, and they began to click. She removed her sliced rubber shoes, walking calmly onto the wire as if they didn't cut into her flesh. More of the crimson life liquid dripped down.

She bent down, setting the cube on the wire. A curious smirk twisted her face. It began to unfold – she stepped into them.

Champion ice skater she was not. But all you need is a sense of balance, a good sense of when to duck, and the blades on the bottom. That was fine.

When she looked up again, the onlookers started. A nearly maniacal grin split her face in two, eyes narrowed and fixated on Vanaglo. He almost gulped.

Please don't be crazy.

She was fast. The first slice hit him before he realized he was cut, and the second appeared before he raised his weapon. A third struck his nunchucks, tangled in the chain, and ripped it away from him.

"You…"

Vanaglo almost rolled his eyes. "It's nothing personal, it's work - "

"You made Tsuna worry."

"Wait, what?"

"Die."

Too fast. It was a blur, and Vanaglo was on his stomach, lying on the wire. Her bladed foot pressed into his back, and his blood plopped down to greet hers on the cement. Lovely.

"A-Ah…!" He winced. "I guess I deserve this…"

"Stop this. We forfeit this round." Xanxus snarled. She didn't seem to hear, seeing red. The blade carved a thin path on his shoulder blades. She was still grinning, and scratched a few marks on the small of his back.

The Cervello chose this moment to interfere, standing on the wire with them.

"Please stop. This match is over."

"I'm almost done," she replied. She made her last marks, and stopped, taking a few steps back. A rather childish drawing of a flower bloomed on the back of the other's shirt.

"Heehee."

Amusement.

Tsuna was thoroughly shaken, knees buckling onto his platform.

"Hiro…san…?" She was walking towards him, a living, red corpse. He seemed to shake violently from fear, eyes wide.

Both Gokudera and Yamamoto tensed, ready to defend their boss if need be. Reborn was silent, as was Hibari – they both watched her with calculating eyes. Chrome gripped her trident tightly. Hiro seemed to be nice when they met, but… was this another side of her?

Hiro stopped in front of Tsuna. Her blank face returned. She lifted a hand – he flinched.

Hiro reached forward and rested her crimson palm gently on his hair.

"…Sorry," she murmured. She stroked his fluffy brown mop gently once more.

Sorry.


	12. Subconciously, Apathist

**FINALLY! Right? XD I think I might be starting to roll though. Lots of time skipping in his chapter.**

And then she fell.

Tsuna was frozen as her body collapsed in front of him, colliding against the cement with a sickening thud.

"Hi… Hiro-san…?"

…

"HIRO-SAN!"

+Page+Break+

Dark lashes twitched and fluttered open. They closed immediately, blinded by light and whiteness.

_Tsuna._

The figure bolted upright, fingers grasping frantically at the pure white sheets.

"Tsuna!"

Half a second later, pain hit in her side and in her arm. Groaning, she clutched at her ribs.

People came rushing in, but pain blurred her senses so they looked like formless shapes of black and white.

_Ah… I can't…_

Darkness.

+Page+Break+

"Will she be okay?" Tsuna whispered anxiously, staring at Hiro's motionless figure.

Reborn snorted and smacked the brunet lightly. "Of course. These are Vongola's top physicians you're doubting."

Tsuna bit his lip. "Still… she was bleeding so much…"

"Heh, she'll be fine, Tsuna. You know her, she'll be rarin' to go in a day or so," Yamamoto chuckled, placing a comforting hand on the smaller one's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, she won't die or anything."

Gokudera, seeing this only made Tsuna more distraught, growled at the baseball nut. "Careful of what you say, stupid baseball -"

"Shh! Hiro-san needs her rest." Tsuna ushered the Rain and Storm out, snatching Reborn from the windowsill. "Let's go get some food or get-well presents or something."

"Yes, Tenth! As always, your ideas are very inspiring!" Gokudera exclaimed. Yamamoto laughed, jogging leisurely after the volatile Guardian.

Tsuna sighed, and stopped at the door, glancing back at Hiro's prone form.

_Get well fast, Hiro-san._

+Page+Break+

Dark lashes fluttered open.

"Nnh…" Was the soft voice as the petite girl sat up. She rubbed her eye, looking around at her surroundings with confusion and slight alarm.

_This is… where?_

"You're up," another voice commented. The girl turned to look at the occupant next to her.

Reborn. With another baby.

"Ciaossu, Hiro."

"Hi," she mumbled.

"This is Lal Mirch." Reborn gestured to the other baby.

She was cloaked, and wore a pair of red goggles on her head. Indigo tresses tumbled down to her lower back, and her reddish gaze stared in a bored fashion.

"Hello," Hiro nodded.

"This is what I have to work with? She looks like she'll die if you push her off the bed." Lal returned.

"Well, she did lose almost two liters of blood," replied Reborn, idly stroking a contented Leon.

Lal snorted and tossed her head. "Whatever. Listen kid, I'm going to be your tutor for the next three months, so you'd better pick up your pace. Whatever you're eating, it's not enough. And go into the sun more, why don't you?" She left with a flutter of her cloak.

Reborn smiled cheerfully at the mildly confused-looking Hiro. "That's her way of saying hello."

Hiro shook her head and shrugged.

+Page+Break+

_Get your things – not too much. I'm going to take you to the place we're going to train. Reborn has prepared the papers to tell your father that you're going on a school trip. Hurry up, and meet me in front of the Namimori Shrine._

Was what Lal said.

Hiro packed her bare essentials into a sports bag, and gave the room a once over. Her dad was out for work, but left three wrapped onigiri on the counter. Her pets said their mournful goodbyes, and she slid through the door.

+Page+Break+

Lal was already tapping a foot by the time she arrived. Immediately, she took off down another forest path.

"Took you long enough," she muttered as they ran through the trees.

"My apologies," Hiro replied blankly. Lal stared disapprovingly at her for a moment before halting.

"This way," she said curtly.

They ventured down another path, and the trees opened up to a road where a sleek van was waiting. Wordlessly, they climbed in, and the tires rumbled off.

+Two+Weeks+Later+

Hiro panted harshly from the training simulation. Her body wobbled and swerved to dodge a spiked log swinging her way. There was a brief burst of fire from below, singeing her feet. It's tough. But it was also COMSUBIN.

"You're getting sloppy!" Lal Mirch snarled over the intercom. "Stand in a ready position! Square your feet, stay on the balls of your feet, arms up! Tune in to your peripheral vision, dammit!"

_I can't… anymore… So.. Tired. _They had been doing the same routine for two weeks already, and it seems that Hiro still couldn't get it. The course was a spiked, flaming, slicing, slipping menace, with all sorts of deadly projectiles and such launching her way. She suspected that Verde must have had a hand in creating his monstrosity.

She was bleeding profusely again, the hemophilia not letting her wounds close. Numerous burns and cuts adorned her weak frame.

She swayed.

And fainted.

The last thing she heard was Lal shouting something, and the last thing she felt was an excruciating pain in her entire right side as she fell onto the spiked platform.

+Page+Break+

"I'm telling you, she's just not cutting it. You might think she has potential, Reborn, but I'm not seeing whatever you're seeing."

"Give her time, she's a tough girl."

"I did give her time. It's been two weeks, and she still hasn't cleared the Training Platform Number Two. Number _Two_, Reborn. We both cleared this in a day. Less than a day. I started with Number Two because she was supposedly good. Now I see I should have started with Number One."

"Well, we had some strong motivation."

A silence.

"Are you saying that she doesn't have strong motivation?"

"Hmm… I wonder."

Hiro could hear the conversation under this haze she felt, and fuzzily opened her eyes anyway.

"Lal…san? Reborn..?"

"Ciaossu, Hiro. It seems we're back in this situation again."

"So it seems," she coughed.

"I think you probably heard our conversation. I want to just let you know something before I leave."

Hiro watched him expectantly.

"Everyone is counting on you. Lambo, Gokudera, Yamamoto, _Ryohei_, _Tsuna_, and _Hibari_ too."

"I see."

"Well, I'm going to go back to Tsuna's place now. Ciao."

Hiro lay in silence, seemingly contemplating something. Lal watched her for a moment, and then left. Hopefully Reborn's words would do something.

+Page+Break+

"Lal-san." The cursed Arcobaleno looked up. Hiro was bandaged and broken, but a new light seemed to flare around her.

_She's finally ready, huh?_

"I'll go set up the platform. Get ready."

This time, Lal watched with approval. Hiro kept getting smacked, but each time she did, the same machine couldn't get at her again. And she kept. Getting. Up.

_Good._

"**Congratulations. Platform Clear."**

The intercom buzzed, and the machines stopped. Hiro stood on the other side of the course, exhausted, sweaty, bloody, and bruised, but nevertheless triumphant.

Lal allowed herself a tiny, private smile, and then wiped it away.

"Get yourself cleaned up. We're doing weapons training, and then moving to stage three."

"Yes ma'am."

+Two+Months+Later+

"So, anything new happen lately?" Reborn took a sip of his favorite Expresso.

"Hmph. It's not bad."

Reborn leaned forward, intrigued. "She must be doing well to earn your praise like that."

Lal was traditionally a tsundere character, but anyone with eyes could tell she was bursting to tell of her new student.

"I did personal weapons training with her, and we ran the rest of the courses. I told her we'd be running Number 6, but I actually ran Number 8 – she didn't die. With two months and two weeks under our belts, she can basically use most of the weapons in the COMSUBIN stock, disassemble and assemble maybe a third of those, and we've finished all the courses, including Number One, all the way up to Number 14." She said this really fast, as if she really wanted to let it out to somebody.

Reborn smirked. "I told you she was good. I wonder who it was in my list of "people who were counting on her" that made her work so hard."

_Tsuna?_

_Ryohei?_

_Or… Hibari?_

"Probably Sawada," Lal snorted. "She attached to him, right?"

"Maybe. She seems to like him as a little brother. Perhaps… There's someone else that has achieved a greater importance?"

"Hmph. Doubt it."

"Possibly unconsciously…" Reborn suggested slyly.

"Doubt it," Lal repeated, but her tone was less sure.

"We'll see."

_Tsuna._

_Ryohei._

_Or Hibari._


End file.
